KLADNO SHOOTOUT LOSS AT PILSEN THURSDAY-Plekanec With Assist

After as six game winning streak, Thursday night the Kladno Knights dropped their second in a row, a 2-1 shootout loss at Pilsen. Tomas Plekanec set up Jiri Tlusty for the only Kladno goal off a two on one breakaway in the first period. First star of the game was Pilsen goaltender Tuuka Rask.

Plekanec has 7 goals and 8 assists and 15 points in 11 games, four behind the league leader Martin Růžička of Oceláři Třinec

The game was touted as a battle between former Pittsburgh teammates Jaromir Jagr and Martin Straka. The win moved Pilsen, the highest scoring team in league, into second place in the Extraliga behind only Brno. Kladno currently ranks 5th. Four points separate first and fifth place.

Call it star quality. Once again, Kladno with it’s cast of homegrown NHLer’s played in front of a sellout crowd on the road.

Last season Kladno had one of the worst attendance averages in the Extraliga. With the presence of Plekanec, Jagr, Tlusty, Kaberle and Zilicky all of whom came up through Kladno organization, their crowds have gone from an average of 2,457 to 9,376 through the first ten rounds of their regular season. The majority of the increased interest came from two games played at the O2 arena in Prague where the Knights drew crowds of 15,575 and 15,705. They will be playing at O2 again on October 23rd.

Kladno’s next game will be Sunday at home against Litvinov.

As for the other Canadiens in Europe –

Yannick Weber, Raphael Diaz and Max Pacioretty (if he has recovered from the flu) will be playing in the Swiss National League Friday. Saturday in the KHL Andrei Markov will play in his fourth game as Vityaz returns home to Chekhov where they’ll host the Ukrainian team Donbass.